Do you love visiting remote places far away from civilization? Is meandering down a lonely dirt road in search of the perfect camping spot your idea of a good time? If so, then you could be putting your life in jeopardy if you don’t carry emergency medical evacuation insurance coverage. Here’s why:

My husband and I also love journeying into the wild, miles from population centers. We never considered that wanderlust is a somewhat risky and potentially financially devastating thing to do – until I had a scary emergency in the outback that made me think about what could happen if one of us needed to catch a ride on a medevac helicopter.

Our wake-up call came while volunteering in a forest clean-up project, an hour away from the nearest real hospital. A dead aspen tree fell over and before I knew it, landed squarely on my head. I went down but didn’t black out, however the EMT who arrived on the scene insisted on calling a life-flight helicopter for me. Deep down I knew I was fine, and even through the fog I knew that an air lift would mean instantly meeting the $10,000 deductible on my medical insurance policy. Since we don’t keep $10,000 laying around, I argued for my right to refuse treatment and forced the EMT to call off the ambulance. Reluctantly she agreed and off I went by car be evaluated, only to learn that I had a bad concussion but would be fine. Looking back, it was a huge risk that we took by avoiding the medevac and probably not smart.

This incident got me thinking about the reality of traveling off the beaten path: any type of medical emergency could mean a financial wipe-out and a series of stressful decisions to make that nobody wants to deal with when your loved one is hurting. For example, have you ever considered:

● What would happen to your RV if you needed to be air lifted to a hospital?● What would happen to your pets if you got air-lifted out?● Do you even know if your health insurance policy covers air lifts?● What would happen to your dead body if you croaked in the woods?

Nobody likes to think about these scenarios, especially younger RVers like my husband and I. But the fact is that even if you’re healthy and don’t have ongoing medical conditions, anyone can have an accident that requires emergency medical help. To cover yourself and your loved ones when you’re in the hinterlands, consider purchasing a medical evacuation assistance insurance policy.

Medical evacuation assistance policies are prepaid arrangements with emergency transportation companies that give you access to customer service reps who act like a personal concierge in a time of incredible stress. They help orchestrate everything from the minute you need an ambulance ride to the best facility for your needs (not necessarily the closest one) to ensuring your pets get safely transported to friends, family or a boarding facility. Two of the biggest companies that offer policies with worldwide coverage for RVers are SkyMed and Medical Air Services Association (MASA Assist). Both have varying levels of coverage that leave no stone unturned in the event that you need help.

If you’ve got a bad case of wanderlust as we do, this type of coverage is smart. Because even a young, healthy full-timer like me can have one bad day in the wilderness!